According to this article in the Times-Colonist out of Victoria, BC, there is an epidemic of shoplifting north of the border. But thieves are not stealing sudafed or diapers or even beer. They're stealing .... gourmet cheese. In fact, cheese is one of the top three shoplifted items in Vancouver, BC, according to the Vancouver Police (the other two are meat and razor blades). So serious is this problem that cheese shops must resort to locking up the better stuff in glass cases to protect it from being stolen!

And what's really amazing is that apparently there is a black market out there - in Canada I mean - for good cheese. The article says local bars have been buying stolen cheese from random strangers....thereby functioning as pawn shops, sort of. For cheese.